


a prince's escape

by Shantae



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Other, spoilers for midgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 21:03:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8505280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shantae/pseuds/Shantae
Summary: Right now, he wasn't fit to become the next king of Jehanna.(Theme: Departure preparations)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the FE100 challenge! Aka 100 themes for which you have to write 100 oneshots. will I finish this? don't underestimate me.
> 
> the theme probably meant something like battle preparations but this was more fun :P

Sword? Check. Spare clothes? Check. Some money? Check. Enough food to survive on for a few days? Check. The goddess of luck by his side? Double check. He wouldn't need anything else.

He looked over the contents of his leather satchel one final time. This was it. Tonight was the night. He'd flee from his own home.

The preparations were all done. He had acquired everything he needed in the past days, and left a note in his room for the guards to find. He had waited until deep in the night, when his mother would be asleep and the guards on guard duty were too tired to notice a small figure sneaking out.

‘ _Don't worry about me_ ,’ he had written in the note, ‘ _I'll be fine. I'll be back in a few years from now; I need to roam the country to find out what the people think and want, and what I can do to be a good king. Thank you for everything, mother_.’

He wasn't fit for the royal life. He wasn't the type that could rule over others, stay calm in political debates or think about what's best for everyone. He liked to make decisions on a whim and hope Lady Luck was kind to him. Not to mention that a prince like him got all kinds of positive and negative attention, and Joshua could do without. He wanted people to judge him based on who he was, rather than on his title.

“You're a good man, Joshua,” his mother had told him one evening when he explained his concerns to her, “you have a kind heart. I am sure that one day, you will rule this country with righteousness and love.” And perhaps she had been right. Perhaps he would be able to, one day. But right now he couldn't.

He exhaled deeply, an attempt to stop his hands from trembling. _This will be good for me_ , he told himself. _I need to see more of the world before I can truly become a good king._

He slung the bag over his shoulder and put his sword in the sheath on his belt. He took the torch that was on the wall of his room and opened his window, breathing in the fresh night air. His room wasn't up high, but him jumping out of the window would most certainly be heard by the guards, so he attached a rope to the frame, to use it as an assist for when he'd climb down the wall.

Just as he was about to leave, he realised he had forgotten the most important thing and ran back inside. “You didn't think I'd leave you behind, did you?” he spoke to his hat, which was hanging from the coat rack on the wall. He swiftly put it on his head, feeling more secure with the familiar cap, and managed a small smile. “There. Let’s go.”

Escaping from his room was easier than he'd thought. Climbing with only one hand available wasn't so bad with a rope, he found, and the guards didn't hear a single thing. He was lucky the window on his room was on the side, otherwise the guards would have certainly noticed the light from his torch.

As he ran away from the palace, towards a forest where he knew nobody could find him, he felt guilt, excitement, curiosity. Excitement and curiosity for the new life he was going to lead, for the things he was going to experience and the people he was going to meet. It felt like his actual life was just starting.

Guilt because he left his mother alone, who did not deserve a son like this. But Joshua knew that in the long run, this was better for everyone. When he returned, and he would,he told himself, he'd apologise to his mother, but also be someone she could be proud of.

He was sure he wasn't going to regret this.

(but when he returned to a dead mother, he did.)


End file.
